Comments on Nick's Twins Blog: Ron Gardenhire: AL Manager of the Year?

酒店經紀, 酒店工作, 酒店上班, 酒店打工, 禮服酒店, 禮服公關, 酒店領檯, 華麗幻想, 夢世...

2010-05-14T03:06:28.994-05:00

酒店經紀,
酒店工作,
酒店上班,
酒店打工,
禮服酒店,
禮服公關,
酒店領檯,
華麗幻想,
夢世界,
酒店經紀,
酒店工作,
酒店上班,
酒店打工,
禮服酒店,
禮服公關,
酒店領檯,
華麗幻想,
夢世界,
酒店經紀,
酒店工作,
酒店上班,
酒店打工,
禮服酒店,
禮服公關,
酒店領檯,
華麗幻想,
夢世界,

If you see Gardy please tell him that I think the ...

2010-02-02T12:11:35.910-06:00

If you see Gardy please tell him that I think the Twins infield is just fine as it is right now. He has defense strength, speed on basepaths with Punto (my favorite) Tolberg, Hardy and Harris. They can be the table setters for Mauer, Morneau, Thome, Cuddy, and Kubel. I think the infeilders are gonna have a banner year this year. Leave them alone and lets go Twins.

I'm sure Gardenhire leads the league in wins per d...

2009-11-03T10:19:25.489-06:00

I'm sure Gardenhire leads the league in wins per dollar spent over the past eight years. As Nick points out, fastidious examination of any manager will provide a plethora of specific missteps. Gardenhire's best assets as a manager come before the first pitch--and that's hard for fans, esp. stat-heads (who don't believe in things they can't quantify) to wrap their heads around.

No team in the history of baseball has comeback from the deficits this Twins team did to win the division. It was historic; and it's amazing given the injuries to key players. Gardenhire should be a shoe in.

He is definitely in the running. Really hard to gi...

2009-11-02T11:34:16.804-06:00

He is definitely in the running. Really hard to give it to Girardi given the payroll and the postseason hasn't done him any favors. I can't think of anyone more deserving than Gardy.

I think a true test of a good manager is how their...

2009-10-29T09:31:49.257-05:00

I think a true test of a good manager is how their team performs under adverse conditions and/or with a less than ideal lineup. Gardy has proven time and again that he can get wins under these conditions, which is impressive. Even though I don't agree with everything he does, I think he's a great manager.

In contrast, you look at a team like the Yankees, and you could have Donald Duck as manager, and the results would have been pretty much the same.

Some people think the Twins should get someone like LaRussa as manager, but how did his team do in the playoffs this year?

I tend to go along with Posnanski. Besides, I reme...

2009-10-29T01:35:55.368-05:00

I tend to go along with Posnanski. Besides, I remember several torrid hot streaks the twins have had in the last 6 or 7 years. He does really well with the cards he's dealt.

I'm a loyal Twins fan, and I think Gardy overall i...

2009-10-28T18:33:32.229-05:00

I'm a loyal Twins fan, and I think Gardy overall is a very, very good manager. I wouldn't say he's the best in the game, I wouldn't give him MOY, but he's better than most.

There is a surprisingly large anti-Gardy contingency here, thought I have found that most of their arguments are emotional, not rational.

Does he make questionanble decisions at times? Sure, but what manager doesn't?

Baseball has a long season, a manager is required to make literally thousands of decisions over the course of 162 games. Even if he's right 80 or 90 percent of the time, that's still hundreds of times he was wrong. The anti-Gardy crowd likes to focus on the times Gardy's bad decisions and ignore his good ones.

So the Strib is filled with FIRE GARDY comments all summer.

I'd like to hear from these people who could do better. To me, you make a managerial change when 1) your manager is making bad decisions that cost your team games and/or 2) he has lost the players and they aren't playing for him anymore. Neither of these is remotely true with Gardy. He makes far more good than bad decisions, and there is no quit in his players.

Since when does winning 87 games in the worst divi...

2009-10-28T16:17:30.527-05:00

Since when does winning 87 games in the worst division in baseball and pulling out the division cause of a epic meltdown by the Tigers warrent a MOY award?

Given the hand he was dealt, Gardenhire did fairly well. It's important to look at things in context.

Since when does winning 87 games in the worst divi...

2009-10-28T15:58:08.342-05:00

Since when does winning 87 games in the worst division in baseball and pulling out the division cause of a epic meltdown by the Tigers warrent a MOY award?

So change that to "he makes decisions many fans di...

2009-10-28T12:16:43.966-05:00

So change that to "he makes decisions many fans disagree with" and I agree with everything you said.

There's no amount of information that could ever convince me that batting a guy with a .300 OBP in front of the best hitter in the league is a well founded decision. Sometimes people are too quick to second-guess Gardenhire on decisions that contain shades of gray, but sometimes he's just blatantly wrong.

That happens with all managers, though.

I like how when Gardenhire makes a decision the bl...

2009-10-28T10:59:18.667-05:00

I like how when Gardenhire makes a decision the blogging community disagrees with (even though they don't have all the information the coaching staff has), it's labeled a mistake or a flaw.

So change that to "he makes decisions many fans disagree with" and I agree with everything you said.

Good post. My opinion on Gardenhire has been that...

2009-10-28T09:29:42.504-05:00

Good post. My opinion on Gardenhire has been that he's above-average, but not as great as his best supporters argue. While playing Monday Morning Quarterback is often unfair to coaches and managers, I think it's fair to say that batting Matt Tolbert in front of Joe Mauer is borderline insane. At the same time, you can't ignore the run of success. A lot of people will say, "Well they play in a bad division!" Well, Cleveland was still a dangerous team in 2002, 2003 and 2004 were pretty weak, 2006 featured ridiculously strong Tiger and White Sox teams, in 2007 the Indians nearly made the World Series, and for the last two years, all teams have been flawed - including the Twins. Overall I'd say it's an impressive run for Gardy. It's a testament to how well he manages personalities and how he gets a LOT out of his players. If he'd fix his in-game flaws, he could be a great manager.

BTW, Nick, your blog continues to impress. It is more useful than either the Star Trib or Pioneer Press. One of those papers should hire you, and pay you for the good work. Agreed.

There are indidividual moments when we can throw s...

2009-10-28T07:08:16.669-05:00

There are indidividual moments when we can throw stones - WHY pull Guerrier after the 1-2-3 8th -but one of these years Gardenhire deserves MOTY. '03, '06, and '09 were probably his best efforts. His teams never quit.

There were probably only 25 people in Minnesota who had not written the Twins off in early September. And they all resided in the clubhouse. Credit to the manager there (and Cuddyer, Kubel, and yes even Delmon Young - 10 RBI in 3 games!). Now we just need the manager to convince his players they can win in October ... this 2-16 stretch is abysmal.

BTW, Nick, your blog continues to impress. It is more useful than either the Star Trib or Pioneer Press. One of those papers should hire you, and pay you for the good work.

Good article. People seem to be way too far one w...

2009-10-28T00:57:57.983-05:00

Good article. People seem to be way too far one way or the other with Gardy. The only things we can really see as fans are the tacticle decisions, so I can see how people would complain. I am about as far on the statistical side of things as someone can be, but I've also played baseball, and understand how important being loose and comfortable is. I can't imagine playing baseball with Jim Leyland staring you down after all your mistakes.

Anyway, its clear from watching the playoffs this year that even on tacticle matters, there are a lot worse managers out there. I've never really been a fan of the Manager of the Year award, as I don't feel we can accurately rate how a manager did, and it really becomes the "surprise team award." A guy like Terry Francona would never win it, whether he was the best manager in baseball or not. (I'm not saying that he IS the best manager in baseball, just that if he WAS, he still wouldn't win it).

Winning 16 out of 20 against flawed AL Central tea...

2009-10-28T00:44:38.392-05:00

Winning 16 out of 20 against flawed AL Central teams puts Gardy in the running of MOY?

The work of Mauer and Cuddyer were the difference over the last month of the season IMO.